TAMIU hoping holiday rest, reflection solves early troubles

By Zach Davis, Laredo Morning Times

Updated
7:38 am CST, Monday, December 24, 2018

The Dustdevils hit the holiday break with a massive stretch of time off playing just once in 28 days and four times in 42. Tom Higgins, Brent Finn, Danny Spinuzza & Co. are off to a 3-9 start this season.

The Dustdevils hit the holiday break with a massive stretch of time off playing just once in 28 days and four times in 42. Tom Higgins, Brent Finn, Danny Spinuzza & Co. are off to a 3-9 start this season.

Photo: Cuate Santos /Laredo Morning Times File

Photo: Cuate Santos /Laredo Morning Times File

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The Dustdevils hit the holiday break with a massive stretch of time off playing just once in 28 days and four times in 42. Tom Higgins, Brent Finn, Danny Spinuzza & Co. are off to a 3-9 start this season.

The Dustdevils hit the holiday break with a massive stretch of time off playing just once in 28 days and four times in 42. Tom Higgins, Brent Finn, Danny Spinuzza & Co. are off to a 3-9 start this season.

Photo: Cuate Santos /Laredo Morning Times File

TAMIU hoping holiday rest, reflection solves early troubles

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If there’s one thing the Texas A&M International basketball team can’t complain about for the remainder of the year, it’s being fatigued.

The Dustdevils have gotten plenty of time off this holiday season. In total, they’ll have a span of 28 days with just one game played — including four games in 42 days — before their next matchup Sunday. Over the first 23 days of the 2018-19 season, the school played 11 games.

With all that time off, the squad is using it to reflect and refocus as they hope to turn around the remainder of their season.

"The kids are excited to get home and see family they haven’t seen in a while," TAMIU head coach Joel Taylor said. "They’re always thinking about that break, and you don’t have the routine you had with school. Practices were some good and some bad, but it was a difficult stretch for sure not playing so long between games. I don’t think I’ll do that again if I can help that."

The rest proved to be beneficial in at least one respect last Tuesday during that lone game as the Dustdevils played at No. 2 Northwest Missouri State. Junior forward Steven Coulanges was able to get back to full strength after missing time previously from suffering a concussion.

But Taylor is hoping the ongoing time off helps his players focus on how to win the remainder of the season. He cites players understanding their roles as the most important change the team can make.

"They definitely need to keep their bodies ready and eat right. That’s really hard to do around the holidays," Taylor said. "But more importantly, our message in the locker room is, ‘What’s your role and what’s your job?’ I just really wanted them to spend the next seven days mentally thinking about what their role is and how they can help this team win.

"We’ve done a good job as coaches of defining those roles. Any time you lose, human nature is to point at the next guy in the room. But the thing winners and champions do is look in the mirror first. That’s what I have to do as a coach and what they will do as players, hopefully, to turn the corner mentally as far as how important their individual role is within our system."

Overall, TAMIU plays only three times in December. They’ll be in action next at Texas A&M-Commerce (9-2) Sunday at 4 p.m. before being off yet another week returning to conference play at home against Lubbock Christian (8-4, 1-1 Heartland) on Jan. 10.

This year, the Dustdevils hit the holiday break knowing they need to find answers. Last year’s struggles were already a surprise for a team that has historically excelled on the court. The squad had its second-worst season since moving up to the Division II level in 2006-07 going 11-18. Additionally, they had their worst ever start in league play at 0-8 after previously never even being 0-2 in the Heartland Conference.

That was certainly a change in pace from a team that had five conference regular-season or tournament titles the last seven seasons and had made the league tourney in all but one year over that span.

This year’s squad has continued last year’s struggles. The team is off to a 3-9 start including an 0-2 record in Heartland play. They are also 0-9 against NCAA opponents after beating Talladega College of the NAIA as well as Arlington Baptist and Southwestern Adventist of the NCCAA.

"We have a long way to go, but I still have a lot of confidence in our guys," Taylor said. "We have all we need to get it done, we just have to put the pieces together, eliminate the mistakes, keep going with what’s working and get rid of what’s not."

The roster’s biggest problems continue to center on their ability to score. Losing in non-conference action at Northwest Missouri State 85-46 on Tuesday, the Dustdevils once again saw their offense struggle. And in doing so, the team dropped to 304th out of 305 teams nationally at 57.6 points per game.

TAMIU’s methodical pace is part of the issue with those low numbers, but their efficiency hasn’t been great either. They have the 10th-worst unit in field-goal percentage at 38.2.

Fortunately, the defense has been keeping the Dustdevils in games. They rank 22nd in the nation giving up 65.3 points per game. But their overall numbers have gone up dramatically the past two outings with their worst performances, albeit against two very good squads. Three-time defending Heartland Conference champion Dallas Baptist scored 84 against them on Dec. 1 while NWMSU just topped them with 85.

"I got a lot of compliments about how hard we played," said Taylor of the NWMSU loss. "We always play hard. They don’t always play smart or together, but they definitely play hard. We are just one extra pass away and one smarter decision on defense from being what they are.

"Defensively, when we are on point, all five guys are rocking and we can stop anybody. But if one guy is out of position, we can look awful. We have to make sure everybody understands and fulfills their roles, and that starts with self reflection. You have to eliminate your mistakes and tighten the screws on what you’re doing well."

This year’s squad has been led early on by senior wing Xabier Gomez. He’s one of two players on the roster averaging double-figures scoring 15 points per game while also sitting third with 4.9 rebounds. Gomez also has improved his 3-point shooting ability this season leading the way hitting 46.5 percent of attempts after being on top a year ago as well at 43.3.

Brent Finn is the lone other player that eclipses the 10-point barrier on average at 11.5 points. He has been in particular a weapon from deep with 31 of his 38 makes coming from behind the arc. He is shooting 43.1 percent from 3.

Coulanges is third on the team in scoring averaging eight while sitting first on the team with 5.8 rebounds. Senior guard Danny Spinuzza is also scoring eight with a team-best 2.7 assists per game while classmate Damon Leach is averaging 5.4 points and 5.4 rebounds at center.